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The goal of this paper is twofold: (1) to investigate how relatedness-supportive corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives influence brand happiness among retail bank customers through a mediating mechanism of customer participation in brand CSR movements; and (2) to analyze how relatedness-supportive CSR initiatives’ effect may be moderated by cause choice and customer-brand goal congruence.

Data were collected from 379 retail bank customers via a paper-and-pencil survey. The hypothesized moderated-mediation effects were tested using Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS (Model 3, Model 4 and Model 7).

Results show that relatedness-supportive CSR initiatives increase brand happiness among retail bank customers through increasing their participation in brand CSR movements. Furthermore, the use of customer determination in the choice of cause enhances the positive effect of relatedness-supportive CSR initiatives on customer participation in brand CSR movements. Similarly, when customers choose the cause and the customer-brand goal is congruent, the effect of relatedness-supportive CSR initiatives on brand happiness is stronger than when the customer-brand goal is incongruent and cause choice is not aligned.

This research is grounded on the relationship motivation theory (RMT), basic psychological needs theory and self-congruity theory to unpack the relationship between relatedness-supportive CSR programs on brand happiness. Integrating three research streams (i.e. CSR, brand management and retail banking), this study proposes customer participation in brand CSR movements as a novel mechanism and sheds light on how relatedness-supportive CSR interplays with cause choice/customer-brand goal congruence to affect brand happiness among retail bank customers in emerging markets.

This study aims to contribute to the International Business literature by investigating the marketing stimuli that drive impulsiveness and perceived value in mobile shopping (MS) platforms and their impact on consumer response.

This study uses a sample of 891 MS platform users and applies structural equation modeling based on the stimulus–organism–response and the consumption value theory.

The empirical finding revealed that rewards, recognition, reviews and ratings are the most influential factors driving perceived value. In addition, the results indicated that customized offerings and visually appealing experiences were the most critical factors affecting the state of impulsiveness. This study also highlights the negative impact of the ubiquitous nature of MS on impulse buying behavior, emphasizing the importance of providing consumers with tools to make informed decisions. This study demonstrates a significant positive relationship between perceived value and impulsiveness, influencing MS.

This study reveals generational differences in the impact of reviews and ratings on perceived value, which can inform businesses’ MS strategies. The results have implications for managers of international firms seeking to optimize their business strategies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, using structural equation modeling, this study is the first to conduct a comprehensive examination of marketing stimuli, impulsiveness and perceived value in MS platforms. It offers businesses strategic insights by identifying rewards, recognition and customized offerings as the key determinants of consumer behavior.

This study aims to explore the spillover effects of data breaches from a consumer perspective in the e-commerce context. Specifically, we investigate how an online retailer’s data breach affects consumers’ privacy risk perceptions of competing firms, and further how it affects shopping intention for the competitors. We also examine how the privacy risk contagion effect varies depending on the characteristics of competitors and their competitive responses.

We conducted two scenario-based experiments with surveys. To assess the spillover effects and the moderating effects, we employed an analysis of covariance. We also performed bootstrapping-based mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro.

We find evidence for the privacy risk contagion effect and demonstrate that it negatively influences consumers’ shopping intention for a competing firm. We also find that a competitor’s cybersecurity message is effective in avoiding the privacy risk contagion effect and the competitor even benefits from it.

While previous studies have examined the impacts of data breaches on customer perceptions of the breached firm, our study focuses on customer perceptions of the non-breached firms. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence for the negative spillover effects of a data breach from a consumer perspective. More importantly, this study empirically demonstrates that the non-breached competitor’s competitive response is effective in preventing unintended negative spillover in the context of the data breach.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of online pharmacies in Qatar using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology-2 (UTAUT-2) framework. Specifically, this study examines the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, habit, technology trust, perceived risk and users’ level of awareness of behavioral intention, which in turn affects the adoption of online pharmacies. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating role of word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations on the relationship between behavioral intention and online pharmacy adaptation.

This study adopted a descriptive, quantitative approach to investigate the UTAUT-2 model in the context of consumers’ adoption of e-pharmacy in Qatar. Through convenience sampling, 455 responses were collected from regular customers accessing online pharmacy services. The data were analyzed using Smart-PLS 3.2 software to examine the hypothesized relationships.

The results showed that WOM recommendations significantly enhanced the relationship between behavioral intention and adopting online pharmacies in Qatar. This study identified the factors that may hinder or enable the adoption of online pharmacies, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, habit, technology trust, perceived risk and users’ level of awareness.

This study contributes to the existing literature on technology acceptance by extending the UTAUT-2 model and recognizing three additional variables (perceived risk, technology trust and technology awareness). These need to be investigated against UTAUT-2 variables to detect the significance of their impact on adapting the e-health concept in Qatar. The potential for cultural change to accelerate the adoption of online pharmacies is highlighted. Future research should explore the role of moral and cultural factors in technology adoption.

The results underscore the economic and social significance of e-pharmacy adoption, particularly within the context of a developing country. Considering the positive intentions expressed by individuals toward e-pharmacy, it becomes crucial for managers and decision-makers to make strategic choices to address any challenges that may arise. Policymakers are encouraged to enhance their services and implement various development initiatives to expand e-pharmacy accessibility and availability.

This study builds upon previous research on e-commerce in the pharmaceutical industry and provides a comprehensive understanding of customers in developing countries. Extending the UTAUT-2 model and identifying additional variables contributes to the knowledge of e-health concepts in Qatar. The findings have practical implications for developing strategies to promote online pharmacy adoption in Qatar and other countries.

The global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2008 had far-reaching consequences for the global economy, triggering widespread economic turmoil. We use the event-study method to investigate whether investors priced the effect of significant events before the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy in European and Asia-Pacific banks. Abnormal returns on the event days range from −4.32% to 5.03% in Europe and −5.13% to 6.57% in Asia-Pacific countries. When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt on September 15, 2008, abnormal returns averaged the lowest at −4.32% in Europe and −5.13% in Asia-Pacific countries. The significant abnormal returns show that Lehman Brothers' collapse was a turning point, and investors paid attention to the precrisis events as warning signs of the oncoming crisis.

This paper seeks to systematically review and synthesise existing research knowledge on African women entrepreneurship to identify gaps for future studies.

The paper conducted a systematic literature review of published studies from 1990 to 2020 on women entrepreneurship in Africa using a 5M gender aware framework of Brush et al. (2009).

The systematic literature review of published studies found the fragmentation, descriptive and prescriptive orientation of studies on Africa women entrepreneurship and devoid of theoretical focus. Further, women entrepreneurship studies tended to be underpinned from various disciplines, less from the entrepreneurship lens, mostly quantitative, and at its infancy stage of development. With a primary focus on development, enterprise performance and livelihood, studies rarely attended to issues of motherhood and the nuanced understanding of women entrepreneurship’s embeddedness in family and institutional contexts of Africa.

The paper questions the view that women entrepreneurship is a “panacea” and unravels how family context, customary practices, poverty and, rural-urban and formal/informal divide, significantly shape and interact with African women entrepreneurs’ enterprising experience and firm performance.

The findings and analyses indicate that any initiatives to support women empowerment via entrepreneurship should consider the socially constructed nature of women entrepreneurship and the subtle interplay of the African institutional contexts’ intricacies, spatial and locational differences which significantly influence women entrepreneurs’ choices, motivations and goals for enterprising.

The paper contributes to a holistic understanding of women entrepreneurship in Africa by using a 5M framework to review the research knowledge. In addition, the paper not only identifies unexplored/or less examined issues but also questions the taken-for-granted assumptions of existing knowledge and suggest adoption of context- and gender-sensitive theories and methods.

Waste management is a crucial aspect of sustainable development, but is it economically sustainable for marginalized informal firms? The study tries to answer this question by revisiting the Porter–Wagner dilemma about the association between environmental management (EM) and firm performance (FP). The study looks into the various liquid waste management practices (LWMPs) adopted by them and the overall impact of LWMPs on firms' economic performance.

The study uses the latest available cross-sectional data source on Indian informal firms by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 73rd survey round 2015–16. First, ordered logistic regression was used to analyse the factors that impact a firm's adoption of a particular LWMP. Subsequently, to capture the heterogeneity among the firms based on productivity and size, a quantile regression (QR) was employed to analyse the impact of LWMPs on firm productivity. Additionally, the propensity score matching technique was used to address endogeneity concerns.

The authors find that bigger, urban-located and female-owned firms adopt cleaner LWMPs that positively impact their economic performance. Furthermore, the QR analysis observed that the most productive firms could extract higher returns from adopting cleaner LWMPs, indicating the relevance of the Porter–Wagner dilemma, i.e. environmental and economic sustainability are possibly symbiotic, thus having a feedback mechanism.

To the authors’ limited knowledge, this is the first study analysing the relationship between EM and FP among the informal sector firms, which are away from any regulations or obligations. Since sustainability is a two-way process, policies should be devised that incentivise sustainable business practices.

This study aims to investigate the manufacturing reshoring decision-making content from an Eclectic Paradigm perspective.

Data were collected through a six-step systematic literature review on factors influencing manufacturing reshoring decision-making. The review is based on 100 peer-reviewed journal papers discussing reshoring decision-making contents published from 2009 to 2022.

In total, 80 decision factors were extracted and then categorized into resource-seeking (8%), market-seeking (11%), efficiency-seeking (41%) and strategic asset-seeking (16%) advantages. Additionally, 24% of these were identified as hybrid, which means that they were classified into multiple categories. Some decision factors were further identified as reshoring influencing factors (i.e. drivers, enablers and barriers).

Scholars need to consider what other theories can be used or developed to identify and evaluate the decision factors (determinants) of manufacturing reshoring as well as how currently adopted theory can be further advanced to create clearer and comprehensive theoretical frameworks.

This research underscores the importance of developing clearer and more comprehensive theoretical frameworks. For practitioners, understanding the multifaceted nature of decision factors could enhance strategic decision-making regarding reshoring initiatives.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the value and practicality of the Eclectic Paradigm in categorizing factors in manufacturing reshoring decision-making content and presents in-depth theoretical classifications. In addition, it bridges the gap between decision factors and influencing factors in the decision-making content research realm.

In this research, the initial list of internal capabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leading to success in international markets has been extracted. Then, the most relevant capabilities to international SMEs under servitisation and hybrid offerings have been screened. Next, the selected capabilities have been classified, and ultimately the relationship amongst the capabilities has been analysed. The conceptual model for SMEs participating in international markets with hybrid offerings has been illustrated.

A literature review has been employed to extract the initial list of internal capabilities to address the research objectives. Then, a novel hesitant fuzzy Delphi (HFD) method has been developed to select the most relevant capabilities for SMEs for hybrid offerings in international markets by using the experts opinions. Subsequently, a novel hesitant fuzzy interpretive structural modelling (HFISM) has been developed to classify the capabilities, design a level-based conceptual model and present the relationship amongst the prominent capabilities.

After the literature review, sixteen internal capabilities leading to success in the international market via hybrid offerings have been extracted. Then, eight selected capabilities were chosen for further investigation by applying 15 expert opinions and via the HFD approach. According to HFISM results, a level-based conceptual model was emanated, and “ability to take advantage of international opportunities”, “financial strength”, “technology level” and “efficient innovation management” were considered as the most fundamental capabilities resulting in successful hybrid offerings in international markets.

Alongside the multi-layer decision-making approach developed in this manuscript to analyse the internal capabilities roles in hybrid offering success towards international markets, to the best knowledge of the authors, the hesitant fuzzy approaches developed in this article have not been previously presented by any other scholar. A novel HFD approach has been designed for consensus amongst the experts under uncertain circumstances. Furthermore, a novel HFISM has been suggested and employed in this research to comprehend the relationship amongst the internal capabilities.

Economic literature highlights both positive and negative impact of FDI on economic growth. The purpose of this study is to confirm the relationship between various economic factors and FDI equity inflows and find out deviations, if any. This is investigated using standard time-series econometric models. The long and short run relationship is inquired with respect to market size, inflation rate, level of infrastructure, domestic investment and openness to trade. The choice of variables for Indian economy is purely based on empirical observations obtained from scientific literature review.

The study involves application of autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) model to investigate the relationship. The long run co-integration between FDI and economic growth is tested by Pesaran ARDL model. The stationarity of data is tested by augmented Dickey Fuller test and Phillip–Perron unit root test. Error correction model is applied to study the short run relationship using Johansen’s vector error correction model method besides other tests.

The results show that the domestic investment, inflation rate, level of infrastructure and trade openness influence inward FDI flows. These factors have both long and short-term relationship with FDI inflows. However, market size is insignificant in influencing the foreign investments inflows. There lies an inverse relation between FDI and inflation rate.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is original. The methodology and interpretation of results are distinct and different from other similar studies.